Bowling ball



Patented Sept. 19, 1933 PATENT OFFICE BOWLING BALL Sulley J. Bates,Cleveland, Ohio, assignor to Stowe-Woodward, Inc., Newton Upper Falls,

Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application November 16, 1932Serial No. 642,892

Claims.

This invention relates to bowling balls and the object is to providesuch a ball with an improved arrangement of finger-receiving recesseswhereby the ball may be held with a restful,

5 easy grip without unnatural fiexure of muscles and released easily andaccurately without the possibility of introduction of forces in therelease which would interfere with the accurate movement of the balldown the alley.

My invention will be well understood by reference to the followingdescription of an illustrative embodiment thereof shown by way ofexample in the accompanying drawing, wherein:--

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a bowling ball substantially as it would beseen by a player holding it suspended in position ready to be delivered;and

Figs. 2 and 3 are partial sections on the lines 22 and 3-3 of Fig. 1respectively.

Bowling balls of the larger size are commonly provided with holes toreceive one or more of the fingers of the hand and a hole for the thumbby means of which the ball is grasped for delivery and in accordancewith my invention I provide an improved arrangement for such holes. Onaccount of the symmetrical character of a sphere, accurate descriptionand definition of a construction embodying the invention is difficult.For purposes of description, therefore, it is convenient to consider theball, as shown in Fig. 1, as arbitrarily divided into quarters bydiametral planes 5 and 7 forming great circles which may be referred toby the same numerals and of which 5 may be considered the primary circleand 7 the circle secondary thereto. The intersection of these circlesdefines the pole 9. On the actual ball this pole may be considered thesymmetrical center of the finger-receiving recess or recesses asdistinguished from the thumbreceiving hole, arranged substantiallysymmetrically about the planes of the circles 5 and '7 at the pole 9.Herein I have shown by way of an example a three-hole ball having twofingerreceiving holes, the centers of which lie on the circle '7 atopposite sides of the pole 9 at least substantially equidistanttherefrom and which extend inwardly parallel to each other. In the formof ball illustrated the axes of the openings are inclined to thediametral plane '7, as seen in Fig. 2, providing a hole having what isknown as a Western or part Western pitch as distinguished from aso-called Eastern pitch in which the holes extend in a diametral plane.

When a finger or fingers are inserted in the ball to lift the same, thepalmar sides of the finger makes effective engagement with the wall ofits hole to grip the ball. In the case of a ball with two finger holesand with these holes undercut, that is, inclined to the diametral plane,as is here illustrated by way of example and not by way of limitation,the position of the fingers is outermost I mean nearest the surface ofthe sphere. In the case of two holes a common tangent plane correspondsto the plane of the palmar sides of the fingers that is, substantiallycoincides with the plane in which the palmar sides of the fingers arepresented when the ball is grasped. Thus in the example shown the planewhose trace on the surface of the sphere is indicated at 13 correspondsto the plane of the palmar sides of the fingers of the hand. It will beunderstood that the matter is relative and that in general the planewill be determined by the normal action of grasping the ball havingregard to the general arrangement of the openins thereon.

It will be seen that the plane 13 is perpendicular to the diametralplane 5 of the primary great circle and the latter may be considered asdefined or determined in that manner.

The thumb hole 15 is offset laterally from the finger holes 11 towardthe side of the thumb. We are considering now a ball for a right-handeduser, and the hole 15 therefore opens in the upper right quadrant,viewing Fig. l. The location of the hole, that is, its distance from theplanes 5 and 7, will depend upon the size of the hand for which the ballis intended. The axis of hole 15 is inclined to the radius of thesphere. In Fig. 1 I have shown an arc of a great circle 1'! connectingthe center of the opening and the pole 9. The axis of the holeintersects the plane of this great circle 17 at the center of theopening and extends therefrom in the plane 19 of a small circle (thewords being used in the geometrical sense) corresponding to the sectionline 33 in Fig. l and to the section of Fig. 3, which I plane defineswith the plane of the great circle an angle 21 diverging from the planeof great circle 17 toward the left in Fig. 1, that is, toward the littlefinger side of the gripping hand. Otherwise described, the axis extendedintersects.

the plane of the primary great circle 5 before intersecting the plane ofthe secondary great circle 7.

I have herein described the finger holes 11 as being of "part Westernpitch and so herein, as indicated in Fig. 3, the hole 15 is shown assimilarly pitched, the extension of the axis in its plane 19 fallingabove the center.

Referring now to Fig. 1, it will be understood that if two fingers, saythe middle and ring finger, are inserted in the holes 11 and the thumbin the hole 15, the palmar surfaces of the fingers will engage the wallsof holes 11 substantially along the tangent plane 13 and the ball of thethumb will seat on a supporting surface corresponding substantially to aplane 23 tangent to the side of the opening and perpendicular to theplane of the small circle 19. This surface is the outermost surface ofthe hole in the sense that it is nearest the surface of the sphere.These planes 13 and 23 converge inwardly in the general direction of thecenter of the ball and also laterally to the radial or thumb side of thegrasping hand. v

The arrangement described permits a relaxed grip on the ball and aneasy, smooth release. This may be well understood if the hand of-thereader is held in an easy, partly closed position with the fingerspartly flexed. Considering the middle and ring fingers and the thumb, itwill be seen that while they more or less closely converge, the thumbdoes not point centrally but toward the little finger side. Also thetangent plane to the palmar surfaces of the fingers and the tangentplane to the ball of the thumb converge together to a point at the thumbside of the hand.. The openings provided by the geometrical constructionexplained thus provide supporting surfaces in the planes 13 and 23respectively corresponding to this natural restful position of the hand.The ball'may thus be held with a relaxed grip with no twisting of thethumb, undesirable in itself and which would also tend to create aninvoluntary pressure from the little finger which might disturb thecourse of the ball when delivered. When the ball is released and thefingers leave the openings, the thumb leaves substantially in the plane23, the edge of the opening being released over the ball of the thumbrather than over the side thereof,

promoting accuracy in delivery. This arrange ment also obviates abrasionof the thumb and the consequent soreness thereof well known to bowlersusing balls of conventional construction.

I am aware that the invention may be embodied in other specific formswithout departing from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and Itherefore desire the present embodiment to be considered in all respectsas illustrative and not restrictive; reference being had to the appendedclaims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope ofthe invention.

I claim:'

1. A bowling ball which for purposes of .definition is considered asdivided by relatively perpendicular primary and secondary diametralplanes defining by their intersection a pole on the surface thereof, theball being recessed substantially symmetrically of said pole to providea fiinger grip, the recessing presenting at one side a supportingsurface for engagement with thepahnar side of the finger, a tangentplane to said surface being perpendicular to said primary diametralplane, and a thumb hole offset to the thumb. side of said primarydiametral plane and havingits axis inwardly directed non-radially tointersect said primary diametral plane before intersecting the secondarydiametral plane.

2. A bowling ball which for purposes of definitionis considered asdivided by relatively perpendicular primary and secondary diametralplanesdefining by their intersection a pole on the surface thereof, theball having a pair of finger holes opening to the surface of-the ballplane thereto coinciding substantially with the 1 plane engaged by-thepalmar sides of the fingers received in said holes when the ball isgrasped and said tangent plane being perpendicular to the plane of saidprimary diametral circle, anda thumb hole offset to the thumb side ofsaid primary diametral plane and undercut to provide an outermostsurface for engagement by the ball of .the thumb, a plane tangent tosaid surface and the above-mentioned plane tangent to the finger holesconverging in the direction of the center of the ball and laterally inthe direction of the thumb side of the hand inserted in the holes.

3. A bowling ball which for purposes of deflnition is considered asdivided by relatively perpendicular primary and secondary diametral gplanes defining by their intersection a pole on the surface thereof, theball having a pair of fin-' ger holes opening to the surface of the ballsubstantially symmetrically about said poles and undercut to provideoutermost surfaces to receive the palmar sides of the fingers, a commontangent plane to said surfaces coinciding substantially with the planeengaged by the palmar sides of the fingers and said tangent plane beingperpendicular to the plane of said primary dia.- metral plane, and athumb hole offset to the thumb side of said primary diametral plane andundercut to provide an outermost surface for. engagement by the ball ofthe thumb, a plane tangent to said surface and the above-mentioned planetangent to the finger holes converging in the direction of the center ofthe ball and laterally in the direction of the thumb side of the handinserted in the holes.

4. A bowling ball which for purposes of definition is considered ashaving relatively perpendicularprimary and secondary great circlesthereon defining a pole, said ball being recessed to provide a fingergrip, the recessing opening to the surface of the sphere along saidsecondary circle and being arranged therealong symmetrically about saidpole, and a thumb hole opening well within the quadrant which liesforwardly and. at the thumb side of the pole between said circles andhaving its axis in the plane of a small circle which intersects thegreat circle drawn between said pole and the intersection of said axisof the thumb hole with the surface of the sphere at an angle whichdiverges to the little finger side of the grasping hand.

5. A bowling ball which for purposes of definition is considered ashaving relatively perpendicular primary and secondary great circlesthereon defining a pole, said ball being recessed to provide a fingergrip, the recessing opening to the surface of the sphere along saidsecondary circle and being arranged therealong symmetrically about saidpole, and a thumb hole opening well within the quadrant which liesforwardly and at the. thumb side of the pole between said circles andhaving its axis in the plane of a small circle which intersects thegreat circle drawn between said pole and the intersection of the saidaxis of the thumb hole with the surface of the sphere at an angle whichdiverges to the little finger side of the grasping hand and which also,when produced, extends 145 above the center of said small circle.

SULLEY J. BATES.

